Lanqiao, using the alias Song Yun, stood in front of Yinhu City, gazing towards the enemy city.
Considering the small number of troops in the feigned attack on Silver Tiger City, Li Jun believed that a strong general was essential for victory. Therefore, he appointed Xiao Lin as the main force and Song Yun as the deputy, leading over a thousand newly arrived mercenaries and two thousand peace soldiers—a total of over three thousand men—to secretly land from the sea. Within a day and a night, their forces were poised to strike Silver Tiger City. Following Song Yun's instructions, they planned to launch a surprise attack and capture the city by surprise. However, Xiao Lin discovered that although Silver Tiger City only had ten thousand troops, its defenses were very strong, while he only had two thousand men. A direct assault was futile, especially since their objective wasn't to storm Silver Tiger City. Therefore, he repeatedly persuaded Song Yun to follow Li Jun's orders.
Fortunately, although Song Yun was brave, he still listened to Li Jun's words. The two often sparred during training, and he knew the abilities of this commander who was several years younger than him, and he greatly admired him. Therefore, he had been patient for several days, but the Tong family remained closed in the city, which made Song Yun somewhat impatient.
He was impatient, and there were others in the city even more impatient. Tong Yan, standing atop the city wall, was also observing the Peace Army's camp. Judging from the number of banners and tents, the Peace Army had come with almost the entire city, numbering eight or nine thousand. At mealtimes, dozens of cooking fires rose in wisps of smoke, creating a rather spectacular sight. He naturally didn't know this was a feint by Xiao Lin, but seeing so many enemies and being unable to charge in and wreak havoc filled him with an unbearable urge.
"Commander Rong!" He turned to look at Tong Rong and said with a reason he thought he couldn't refuse, "Let me go out and scout out the enemy's strength. If we just stay cooped up here, they'll only be shouting and cursing down there, while we're hiding here. Is this what fighting is?"
Tong Rong was also quite anxious. Ge Shun had been on his way for three days and would be arriving in Leiming City soon. If he waited for Tong Chang to return and relieve the siege, how could he show his merit? However, Tong Sheng had given strict orders not to go into battle lightly, which made him feel constrained and unable to make any moves.
Therefore, he could only smile wryly and say, "Go and beg the governor. As long as he agrees to let you go to war, I will naturally not object."
As expected, Tong Yan went to ask Tong Sheng for help. Half a day later, he arrived at the city gate with great joy and shouted, "The governor has agreed and ordered me to go out of the city to fight the enemy!"
The Tong family soldiers, already feeling resentful, cheered in unison. A few who had experienced the Battle of Tonghai thought of the death of Tong Yan's elder brother, Tong Yu, but dared not utter a warning. So Tong Yan spurred his horse, wielding a pestle, and charged out of the city with five hundred warriors in tow.
Seeing the enemy's flags fluttering in disarray on the city wall, followed by the city gates opening wide and a troop of soldiers rushing out, Song Yun was overjoyed. Gripping his greatsword, he said, "Commander Xiao, leave this young man on horseback to me."
Xiao Lin nodded and said, "Okay, be careful!"
Song Yun wasn't used to riding a horse, so he walked out of the formation and pointed at Tong Yan, saying, "Hey, kid, come here!"
Tong Yan had expected a commander from the Peace Army to come and fight, but to his surprise, a foot soldier came out, and he was extremely rude. He was furious and roared, "Savage, I'll kill you and then take Li Jun's head!" He spurred his horse and charged forward.
Song Yun gripped the giant sword with both hands, spread his legs, and pointed the sword tip to the sky. In an instant, his rugged expression completely disappeared, replaced by an arrogant air of pointing to the sky and drawing lines across the earth. Tong Yan was overjoyed at this stance. He changed his grip on the iron pestle from one hand to both hands and shouted, "What a savage! It seems he has some skill!" He then struck out with all his might.
The pestle, like a boulder falling from mid-air, slammed down on Song Yun's head. Song Yun roared, "Open!" Undeterred by the disadvantage in weaponry, his greatsword struck the iron pestle heavily, the two weapons emitting a dull thud. Tong Yan's horse was fast, and in an instant, it swept past Song Yun. The rider shook his horse twice and exclaimed, "What strength!"
Song Yun also took several steps back before regaining his balance, and praised, "You're not bad either, try again!"
Tong Yan turned his horse back and, still wielding his sword with both hands, swept it horizontally this time. Against such a head-on attack, any clever techniques were almost useless. Even if Song Yun used a clever move to kill Tong Yan, if Tong Yan's sword touched Song Yun before he died, it meant Song Yun would also perish. Therefore, Song Yun parried again with his sword. This time, the enormous impact sent him tumbling to the ground, and Tong Yan's horse reared up, emitting a sharp neigh.
"It's my turn!" Song Yun rolled on the ground and ran at an astonishing speed. Then he leaped up and slashed at Tong Yan's head with all his might. Tong Yan also swung his sword horizontally with all his might, trying to deflect Song Yun's greatsword. The two weapons clashed with an extremely unpleasant sound. Song Yun and his sword were knocked away and rolled twice on the ground. Meanwhile, Tong Yan's horse jumped sideways a few steps and then galloped away.
"Not enough? Let's do it again, kid!" Song Yun shouted as he got up and ran after Tong Yan, but at that moment Xiao Lin ordered the retreat to be stopped.
Tong Yan returned to the city, jumped off his horse, stumbled and almost fell to the ground, his face turned pale. After a long while, he finally exhaled the breath he had been holding in his chest and said, "So amazing, so strong!" Only then did the Tong family soldiers notice that the tiger's mouths on Tong Yan's hands were covered in blood.
"As expected, the Peace Army lives up to its reputation, with such a brave general!" Tong Yan caught his breath for a moment before saying, still shaken, "I forgot to ask this person's name. Does anyone know what his name is?"
No one could answer. At this time, Song Yun had not yet gained a reputation for bravery, so even those who had fought against the Peace Army could not answer Tong Yan's question.
"He only managed a draw with Ayan," Tong Rong comforted him. "The enemy seems to know this too, which is why they sounded the retreat."
"I will fight this man again tomorrow. If I don't kill him, such a brave general will be extremely disadvantageous to our army." Tong Yan said after regaining his composure. "I underestimated him today. Tomorrow I will defeat him with superior skills and never give him another chance to use brute force."
“No, look at the weapon this person is using, it’s a giant sword. He must have some extraordinary skills, otherwise he wouldn’t use such a weapon.” Tong Sheng, who had just arrived at the city wall to watch Tong Yan fight Song Yun, rejected his suggestion. “Ayan, you are the bravest general of my Tong family. If you are defeated in battle, it will be extremely detrimental to the morale of our army. Therefore, I will not allow you to fight again tomorrow under any circumstances.”
"Yes." Realizing that his opponent was not weak and that his brother had died after falling into a trap, Tong Yan learned his lesson and dared not act rashly again.
Thus, the two sides fell into a stalemate, with the attackers besieging the city without launching an assault and the defenders remaining inside. Both Tong Sheng and Tong Rong were greatly puzzled by this. The next day, Tong Sheng once again went to the city wall and looked out over the enemy camp. He saw that the enemy camp was heavily fortified, with banners fluttering in the wind. From a distance, it seemed that many soldiers were vigilantly watching the city, ready to launch a surprise attack at any moment.
Listening closely, a gentle breeze carried the sound of war drums from the enemy camp. Tong Sheng frowned, pondering the meaning behind Li Jun's actions. Could it be that the newcomers were not Li Jun at all, but from another army? Or perhaps the newcomers were indeed Li Jun, but Li Jun had another scheme?
He became increasingly worried that day, and went up to the city wall five times to observe the enemy camp. However, he could not find any flaws in the Peace Army's camp each time. The Peace Army seemed to know that he was spying on them, and did not send anyone out to challenge them. Instead, they would beat the drums from time to time to remind the people in the city that they might attack the city at any time.
Was the daytime inaction a strategy to conserve strength for a nighttime attack? As dusk fell, Tong Sheng ascended the city wall for the sixth time, peering into the enemy camp. A thin mist shrouded the camp, obscuring everything except the outlines of the fortifications. The enemy troops seemed to be strictly disciplined, forbidding even the lighting of a torch. This defied logic; could the soldiers of the Peace Army truly be unable to see at night?
After repeatedly instructing the soldiers guarding the city to be vigilant and on guard, Tong Sheng returned to his palace. That night, Silver Tiger City was eerily silent, save for the drumbeats emanating from the Peace Army's camp, which kept most of the city awake. Tong Sheng, Tong Rong, and the others dared not even remove their armor, fearing a night attack by the Peace Army.
But the night passed peacefully. Tong Sheng, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, went up to the city wall early the next morning to look at the Peace Army's camp. Everything was still calm, as before. But he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. He examined the area repeatedly for a long time, but still couldn't pinpoint what it was. Turning back to look at Silver Tiger City, which he had ruled for twenty years, he saw that even amidst the war, the people were still cooking and preparing meals as usual. It seemed the people still had confidence in holding Silver Tiger City.
Suddenly, Tong Sheng realized something was wrong with the Peace Army camp. It was breakfast time, but there was no smoke rising from the camp! His heart tightened, and he shouted, "Where are the sentries who were on patrol yesterday?"
A sentry approached nervously, and from Tong Sheng's tone, he sensed something was wrong. Sure enough, Tong Sheng asked sternly, "Was there any smoke rising from the Peace Army's cooking fires yesterday?"
The sentry racked his brains for a while before saying, "This... I really didn't... I didn't notice."
"Foolish!" Tong Sheng kicked him to the ground and shouted at the others, "Did anyone notice if the enemy raised any cooking fires yesterday?"
A lieutenant said, "Yesterday, not a single wisp of smoke rose from the enemy camp."
Tong Sheng's face turned deathly pale. He paced back and forth, shouting, "Tong Yan!"
"exist!"
"You will lead a thousand men to challenge the enemy camp. If the enemy does not come out, charge straight into the camp. As soon as you see a single enemy soldier, retreat immediately. Do not make a mistake!"
Tong Yan found Tong Sheng's tactics incomprehensible, but he could only follow his instructions. After Tong Yan led a thousand men out of the city, Tong Sheng said, "Tong Rong, order the entire army to be on high alert and prepare for battle!"
Tong Rong followed the commander's orders and Tong Sheng stood on the city wall, nervously looking down at the city below.
Tong Yan led his thousand-strong army, shouting as they charged toward the enemy camp. Halfway there, Tong Yan realized something was amiss. The Peace Army seemed to have been prepared for their surprise attack; there was no panic in their camp, only the war drums were beating more and more urgently. He prepared his spear with both hands, waiting for the enemy ambush to appear so he could turn back and attack, but when they reached the Peace Army's tents, there was no movement at all.
On the city wall, Tong Sheng saw Tong Yan leading his troops directly into the enemy camp. With one charge, they destroyed all the palisades and fortifications, and then rushed into the tents. The shouts of battle rose up everywhere, but they were all shouts from his own men. Tong Sheng's face became even more grim.
A moment later, Tong Yan rode back and laughed loudly at the foot of the city, saying, "It's an empty camp. Those cowards have already retreated. I don't know when they fled. They must have learned that Commander Chang's army is returning!"
The people on the city wall cheered excitedly, but Tong Sheng remained calm, as if this outcome was expected. After Tong Yan went up to the city wall, he asked him about the situation in the camp. Tong Yan said, "The tents are empty. The drumming was made by the bandits who tied several sheep to the leather drums. The sheep's hooves were treading on the drums. It seems that the bandits saw that our city was heavily guarded, so they took the initiative to retreat. They were afraid that our army would take the opportunity to pursue them, so they deliberately set up this feint."
Tong Sheng snorted heavily, seemingly extremely dissatisfied with the result, his face showing deep worry.
Seeing this worried look, Tong Rong was very puzzled. He asked, "Why is the governor unhappy? Our army didn't even send out a single soldier, and the enemy soldiers have already retreated. You should be happy."
Tong Sheng sighed deeply and said, "Do you think the Peace Army will retreat after attacking the city and gaining nothing? I hope I'm overthinking it, otherwise, I'm afraid we'll have even bigger trouble ahead of us."
Tong Rong's expression also changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Besieging the city to lure reinforcements? Could it be that his real target is Commander Chang's reinforcements?"